"Poland-adjacent, colombia, alban, macedonia, kryzgystan, beautiful mountain = norway, italy adjacent buildings = malta, lesotho, if its latam but you dont know, guatemala. or uruguay, bolivia, botswana"Rosemi Lovelock
So long, Mumei, it's been great. (Even if there's a concert tomorrow.) I guess I'm more used to keeping up with Council, since I was there for their debuts. It's always been rough for them and Sana left after only a year. Only Time & Chaos remain. Fitting, haha.
Also, just enough scuff to be a big EN event, haha.
Hololive graduations are weird. You might not have ever really watched the member, but they can really hit you in the emotions because it's really noticeable how much it effects everyone. My impression is this effect happens with Idols as well in Japan, even if it's more understood there's a schedule there.
It seems like they had enough time to get the emotions out and to that place of understanding, as it's after the shock phase. It's not like giving a eulogy at a funeral a couple of days after a death.
I did have one rather technical thought that maybe has been a much bigger issue than we've thought about. Cover uses a lot of their own proprietary 3D tools as well as some Japanese support companies. They might be stuck off in a branch of their own products and it really limits the ability to do 3D stuff remotely. It's one of those subtle things the non-tech types wouldn't think to fix or realize just how much of a problem it really has become. But I'm not sure any of EN holomems are technically savvy enough to understand where the problem is and know how to find contracted solutions. (It's going to be a software interpreter layer for capture data formats, but it's doable if you have both sides of it.) It's stuff like that which could easily drive problems but no one really notices the real problem and it just causes friction which builds up. And Management can't easily solve the issue by waving a magic wand at it, because I'd imagine all but a couple at the top aren't that tech savvy either. The Holomems deal with Performer Management & Business People, when there's like big technical issues that get in the way of a lot of things.
Just an idea that came to mind. It might not be 3D studios, but it could be something with the Cover App or stuff like that.
Good shout about the technical issue. If you have not already read Covers note page they shed light on technical issues/solutions here: https://note.cover-corp.com/m/mb173ca3b0d76.
Let's put aside various home 3d, Sora/Miko/Roboco 3d model streaming and Ame's studio and explore if there would be an issue with talents using a studio outside JP (Mori already used one in JP for a live).
First, let's talk about studios
Cover's studio uses "off the shelf" products that should be compatible with anything in the US/Canada/Europe. Here is a quick tour and explanation with subtitles. Panasonic has more videos about Kairos, the video production hardware Cover uses, and they have more in-depth video/tutorials. The camera's are "VALKYRIE (VK26) VICON" from Vicon a major motion capture company. Based upon the various studio tours, independent Japanese studios and various 3d behind the scenes I am confident that Cover uses only motion capture and not performance capture, differences explained here, which means there is no expensive headset needed or specific animation data. From that I would think their ability to process data from any other studio is adequite enough.
Looking at motion capture studios in NA, specifically where talents live in Vancouver, Texas and the East Coast, there are options. Vancover and L.A. is covered by Animatrik and I am sure plenty of others in Calli. East Coast, NYC should be close enough, so american movie co. Texas has motus in Dallas. Motus and JP studio Kimassi specifically mention .fbx for the animation files so seems like the industy standard. Additionally the pricing is pretty close to JP studios, though the Yen being weak is fucking shit up. Here is a list of vtuber 3d studios in JP that do vtuber 3d shows - https://www.reddit.com/r/VirtualYoutubers/comments/1e4ek66/comment/ldeo892 there are others out there. So lack of studios or expense seems not to be an issue, especially considering Cover pays for flights and lodging to come to Japan.
How proprietary is Cover's 3D?
Well, Sora had Mito, YuNi, Siro and Aoi at Cover's studio in 2023, that's 4 vtubers from 4 different companies. It seems like they can integrate whatever 3d data needed. Ui had Subaru at her 3d live and Tamaki had Aqua at hers and neither was hosted at Cover's studio. At the bare minimum whatever 3D models Cover had in 2023 are able to be used at other studios. Here is where you tell me I am wrong because "software interpreter layer for capture data formats" sounds correct and reading that I feel like a luddite. Still, Cover has thrown their tech team at issues that might be similar before, here they talk about how they made different programs friends so talents could do home 3d: https://note.cover-corp.com/n/n7a413a4c167b?magazine_key=mb173ca3b0d76.
That was a fun rabbit hole. Cover was originally a tech company that wanted to produce AR games so it's not like they lack tech sauvy leaders or employees and their Note blog is specifically aimed at recruiting people to fill all jobs. The only EN girl, outside Japan, that compains about the lack of 3D concerts is Kiara. Fauna, Gura and Mumei didn't seem invested in 3D with Fauna specifically saying she is not interested. Ame built her own studio and credited Cover with helping her with technical issues, she also didn't care about studio quality 3D lives instead using the studio for ideas that interested her. That's important as she has talked about burnout lately so I assume new and interesting were her primary motivation alongside helping her Myth friends. As far as the Japanese support companies I have only seen them at Holofes and Cover built the studio and has been working to keep as many things in house as possible. I really don't see technical limitations as the source of friction. For EN, from Vesper to Gura, working for a Japanese company wasn't a good fit for those who have left.
Also, I would love for Phase JP to talk about working for a NA company to contrast HoloEN. Phase JP are pretty chill and kinda got to be to not spaz at the Laissez-faire nature of most NA companies in comparison to JP. Just the merch situation alone would drive much of Holo crazy.
You might not have ever really watched the member, but they can really hit you in the emotions because it's really noticeable how much it effects everyone.
This what makes it so amazing and so depressing at the same time: when its happiness - its shared with everyone, when its sadness - its too shared with everyone.
I wasn't feeling well, so it had distracted me from how almost "funeralish" this stream was, besides, I try to keep myself composed until Gura's graduation. No matter what I think of her this days, I was her big fan until her disappearances.
Since it happens on my vacation, this would be a perfect time to finally let it all out for all three girls.
Idk why you guys watch these streams if it just makes you feel like shit. I don't watch graduations because I really do not need to be more depressed than I already am, I already came to terms with Mumei leaving the day she announced she was going to and I felt like shit until the next morning, I don't see the point in making yourself sad/mad on purpose.
Good shout about the technical issue. If you have not already read Covers note page they shed light on technical issues/solutions here: https://note.cover-corp.com/m/mb173ca3b0d76.
Let's put aside various home 3d, Sora/Miko/Roboco 3d model streaming and Ame's studio and explore if there would be an issue with talents using a studio outside JP (Mori already used one in JP for a live).
First, let's talk about studios
Cover's studio uses "off the shelf" products that should be compatible with anything in the US/Canada/Europe. Here is a quick tour and explanation with subtitles. Panasonic has more videos about Kairos, the video production hardware Cover uses, and they have more in-depth video/tutorials. The camera's are "VALKYRIE (VK26) VICON" from Vicon a major motion capture company. Based upon the various studio tours, independent Japanese studios and various 3d behind the scenes I am confident that Cover uses only motion capture and not performance capture, differences explained here, which means there is no expensive headset needed or specific animation data. From that I would think their ability to process data from any other studio is adequite enough.
Looking at motion capture studios in NA, specifically where talents live in Vancouver, Texas and the East Coast, there are options. Vancover and L.A. is covered by Animatrik and I am sure plenty of others in Calli. East Coast, NYC should be close enough, so american movie co. Texas has motus in Dallas. Motus and JP studio Kimassi specifically mention .fbx for the animation files so seems like the industy standard. Additionally the pricing is pretty close to JP studios, though the Yen being weak is fucking shit up. Here is a list of vtuber 3d studios in JP that do vtuber 3d shows - https://www.reddit.com/r/VirtualYoutubers/comments/1e4ek66/comment/ldeo892. there are others out there. So lack of studios or expense seems not to be an issue, especially considering Cover pays for flights and lodging to come to Japan.
How proprietary is Cover's 3D?
Well, Sora had Mito, YuNi, Siro and Aoi at Cover's studio in 2023, that's 4 vtubers from different companies. It seems like they can integrate whatever 3d data needed. Ui had Subaru at her 3d live and Tamaki had Aqua at hers and neither was hosted at Cover's studio. At the bare minimum whatever 3D models Cover had in 2023 are able to be used at other studios. Here is where you tell me I am wrong because "software interpreter layer for capture data formats" sounds correct and reading that I feel like a luddite. Still, Cover has thrown their tech team at issues that might be similar before, here they talk about how they made different programs friends so talents could do home 3d: https://note.cover-corp.com/n/n7a413a4c167b?magazine_key=mb173ca3b0d76.
That was a fun rabbit hole. Cover was originally a tech company that wanted to produce AR games so it's not like they lack tech sauvy leaders or employees and their Note blog is specifically aimed at recruiting people to fill all jobs. The only EN girl, outside Japan, that compains about the lack of 3D concerts is Kiara. Fauna, Gura and Mumei didn't seem invested in 3D with Fauna specifically saying she is not interested. Ame built her own studio and credited Cover with helping her with technical issues, she also didn't care about studio quality 3D lives instead using the studio for idea that interested her. That's important as she has talked about burnout lately so I assume new and interesting were her primary motivation alongside helping her Myth friends. As far as the Japanese support companies I have only seen them at Holofes and Cover built the studio and has been working to keep as many things in house as possible. I really don't see technical limitations as the source of friction. For EN, from Vesper to Gura, working for a Japanese company wasn't a good fit for those who have left.
Also, I would love for Phase JP to talk about working for a NA company to contrast HoloEN. Phase JP are pretty chill and kinda got to be to not spaz at the Laissez-faire nature of most NA companies in comparison to JP. Just the merch situation alone would drive much of Holo crazy.
Solid rabbit hole dive there. That entire workflow on their composition programming is interesting. Obviously, a lot gets lost when you toss it into a Translator, but that's a lot of work in Unity to compose the 3D. That isn't surprising, but still pretty cool. Though that really wasn't my point. It was a thought that came to mind about weird technical frictions everyone didn't really notice because the ones that would understand how to change things aren't getting the feedback since they're in a far different part of the company. Though even for the 3D studio, besides the expense, there's not many places you could have full capture done up to Cover's current specs without travel & accommodations already, so a trip to Japan barely changes the logistics.
My main thought was frictions people didn't even realize were really there and they built up over time, getting mixed in with logical & appropriate corporate requirements. Assume the streaming setup takes 30+ minutes to get going because the Cover App has issues. It works, but it's a major pain every time. That's 15-30 minutes of frustration with every stream that, after a couple of weeks, is just background noise but it bothers the streamer. Because there's already high "friction" building, other issues become amplified and then blow up, even if the "blow up" issue is pretty minor. I'm describing how a good number of Wars started and what'll drive you nuts if you're running an organization at any scale.
In business and work, about 75% of your issues (as management) will come down to compensation. Either for employees or suppliers/buyers. It might not be a solvable situation, but the friction that it causes when people think they're not getting what they feel they should get out of a situation is causing most of the emotions. This is especially true in places with a lot of drudgery, as people have time to stew on issues.
You'd think it'd get easier after the 6th final stream in under a year but man... it just doesn't. Even knowing that they could just come back as an indie later (though unfortunately, probably not in Mumei's case), these final thank yous and goodbyes hit like a truck every time.
But like Mumei said, that's a good thing. These emotions are proof that their time in Holo mattered. Their experience here among friends and fans meant something. So despite the sadness of it all, the ability to look back on the memories with a smile is its own treasure. For the talents leaving, the talents remaining and us, the fans.
Idk why you guys watch these streams if it just makes you feel like shit. I don't watch graduations because I really do not need to be more depressed than I already am, I already came to terms with Mumei leaving the day she announced she was going to and I felt like shit until the next morning, I don't see the point in making yourself sad/mad on purpose.
It's not really that simple for something like this. It's not just sadness that comes with watching these streams. These final streams are the fans' and the talents' way of getting closure. Almost every single person Mumei talked to looked back on a good memory they had together, while also talking about how wonderful she was to them. Seeing Bae barely hold it together was sad of course, but you bet I had a smile on my face when they talked about Baeruto and Moomsuke again.
The nostalgia, the joy and the sense of closure within the sadness; those are what most people are looking for when they watch these streams. I'm also sure those feelings were what Mumei/Shion/Fauna/etc wanted to pass on when they decided to do them. So while it may be depressing for sure, it feels worth it in the end. But emotions are irrational in the first place and people handle this stuff in different ways, so there's nothing wrong with just trying to move on like what you did. And admittedly, it feels worse for Mumei knowing there's a decent chance she may not return to streaming in any way after this.
Idk why you guys watch these streams if it just makes you feel like shit. I don't watch graduations because I really do not need to be more depressed than I already am, I already came to terms with Mumei leaving the day she announced she was going to and I felt like shit until the next morning, I don't see the point in making yourself sad/mad on purpose.
In my case, if I am using them as my emotional crutch it would be wrong to turn my back on them, when they have hard times.
Besides, it doesn't make difference for me whether I watch graduation or not - I know this character is gone either way and not watching it won't make me less sad. On contrary, it helps to provide a single point where its acceptable to unleash all the stress and sadness and there are no regrets that you missed last moments of a talent.
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